Hello everyone,
I am in my third year of turning our urban backyard of lawn, gravel, and cement yard into a new type of ecosystem, and a first year chicken owner. My family has loved the changes so much, we are looking to expand our horizons to bigger back yard living, maybe a farm. So much to learn first. We started with 2 buff orpington chicks (one an accidental rooster, which is not allowed in urban settings), and 2 black australorps (one of which got heat induced seizures/spasms if we left the brooder at 90-95 degrees F, even at three days of age). The rooster became EXTREMELY dedicated to breeding at 4 months, which the hens did NOT appreciate. He was rough, he was loud, and he was rude (eating before the hens, eating all their food, and being exceptionally grouchy even with plenty of space, food, and free range oportunities). We had just entered the pandemic quarantine period, so we spoiled him and kept our girls out of his zone for as long as possible, but he was not going to work in an urban backyard with so few girls. With no options to hire anyone to help us, we watched some youtube videos, took every precaution to avoid stress and pain, and well...he was delicious and his feathers amazing!
Our new batch of chicks (gold laced Wyandottes, Speckled Sussex, Easter Eggers, and Silkies) are super happy with the brooder at 80 degrees and a square bottle of warm water. We are keeping them separate from our three 7 month old girls for now, but let them hear each other in hopes that their blending into one coop later will be without too many issues or stressors.
I've been reading many of the wonderful articles and issues forums (started when Sparrow, the chick with seizures needed help), and have decided to join after reading about the many chicks from My Pet Chicken that seem to have genetic dwarfism. One of our silkies is not growing like the others. Her sister is already twice her size. She is still a blue-grey cotton ball on legs with some wing feathers coming in. She needs heat and sleep more often than the others so I've started to separate her twice a day with her sister and a couple of others for company to make sure she isn't using all her energy to keep up and eat. She is healthy with no digestive issues, feathers are clean, she runs and tugs with the others for little bouts of time, but she is seriously small. I've just added a B-complex to the water along with probiotics and hydrating minerals, but the others are outgrowing her so fast I will have to adjust the height of their food and water to keep it clean. Any suggestions would be wonderful. Maybe a vitamin complex? If it is a protein absorption problem, would pineapple help due to its bromelain enzyme content? Can chickens eat pineapple??
Very happy you folks are out there!
-Sophia
I am in my third year of turning our urban backyard of lawn, gravel, and cement yard into a new type of ecosystem, and a first year chicken owner. My family has loved the changes so much, we are looking to expand our horizons to bigger back yard living, maybe a farm. So much to learn first. We started with 2 buff orpington chicks (one an accidental rooster, which is not allowed in urban settings), and 2 black australorps (one of which got heat induced seizures/spasms if we left the brooder at 90-95 degrees F, even at three days of age). The rooster became EXTREMELY dedicated to breeding at 4 months, which the hens did NOT appreciate. He was rough, he was loud, and he was rude (eating before the hens, eating all their food, and being exceptionally grouchy even with plenty of space, food, and free range oportunities). We had just entered the pandemic quarantine period, so we spoiled him and kept our girls out of his zone for as long as possible, but he was not going to work in an urban backyard with so few girls. With no options to hire anyone to help us, we watched some youtube videos, took every precaution to avoid stress and pain, and well...he was delicious and his feathers amazing!
Our new batch of chicks (gold laced Wyandottes, Speckled Sussex, Easter Eggers, and Silkies) are super happy with the brooder at 80 degrees and a square bottle of warm water. We are keeping them separate from our three 7 month old girls for now, but let them hear each other in hopes that their blending into one coop later will be without too many issues or stressors.
I've been reading many of the wonderful articles and issues forums (started when Sparrow, the chick with seizures needed help), and have decided to join after reading about the many chicks from My Pet Chicken that seem to have genetic dwarfism. One of our silkies is not growing like the others. Her sister is already twice her size. She is still a blue-grey cotton ball on legs with some wing feathers coming in. She needs heat and sleep more often than the others so I've started to separate her twice a day with her sister and a couple of others for company to make sure she isn't using all her energy to keep up and eat. She is healthy with no digestive issues, feathers are clean, she runs and tugs with the others for little bouts of time, but she is seriously small. I've just added a B-complex to the water along with probiotics and hydrating minerals, but the others are outgrowing her so fast I will have to adjust the height of their food and water to keep it clean. Any suggestions would be wonderful. Maybe a vitamin complex? If it is a protein absorption problem, would pineapple help due to its bromelain enzyme content? Can chickens eat pineapple??
Very happy you folks are out there!
-Sophia
Glad you joined.
